Announcing SCHAR: Blue Shield Alliance, A New Indie Game for XBLIG and PC

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Today I'm very happy to announce a brand new Xbox Live Indie and PC game. The game is called SCHAR: Blue Shield Alliance and it's being developed by a new studio named Brain Shape Games. Who are Brain Shape? It's a studio founded by two childhood friends, one of which...is me.

For the past four months along with my normal Co-Optimus responsibilities (and real job stuff too) - I've been developing a new game, expanding on an idea I had in a car ride coming back from PAX East in 2010. Obviously with my love for co-op games, Blue Shield Alliance's gameplay is strongly designed around concepts in co-op gaming.

The game is a twin stick shooter at heart but isn't strictly action oriented like many of the games in the same genre. I wanted to blend elements of strategy and even a dash of RPG to make it something a little different. The game is sci-fi at its core, set in one possible future for humanity. Players choose from different classes of ships to pilot through space, defending human colonies from utter distruction. The game supports four player local co-op, though we hope to support online play eventually.

Over the next couple of months I'll be revealing new details about the game both here on Co-Optimus and on the game's official website, BlueShieldAlliance.com. We're only about halfway through the development process at this point, and we have a lot of work to do on things like art, sound, and level content - but what we have in place I'm extremely proud of already.

Obviously we're not ready to give too much away about the game, but we do have a teaser trailer up which gives you a peak at some things. If you're heading to PAX East in a few months, the game will be playable there in an intimate setting.

So, again. Full disclosure here. SCHAR: Blue Shield Alliance is being developed by a team of folks that include myself, the founder and creator of this website as well as Co-Optimus art man Mike Katsufrakis, supplying art and former staffer Katrina Pawlowski helping with writing. Because of that you won't see us reviewing the game or giving impressions, etc - but we will be posting information about the game as we head towards our release later this year.

Co-Optimus Creator Announces Twin-Stick shooter for Xbox and PC

Feb 1, 2012. Brain Shape Games is proud to announce their first official title for Xbox Live Indie Games and PC, SCHAR: Blue Shield Alliance. Set in one possible future, SCHAR: Blue Shield Alliance is a sci-fi top-down shooter that blends elements of strategy and RPG games into a four player co-op experience. SCHAR’s gameplay requires quick reflexes as much as careful tactics. Players take on the role of a pilot in the space based Alliance, controlling one of four unique and upgradable ships to save humanity’s many interstellar colonies from an enemy known only as the Constituents of Nothing (CoNs).

Brain Shape Games is a brand new studio featuring the creative talents of Nick Puleo and Dave Paul. Nick Puleo owns and runs Co-Optimus.com during the day, and works with Brain Shape Games in the evenings, showing his utmost dedication to co-op gaming in every way. With the knowledge gained from co-op authority Co-Optimus.com, Nick aims to create an ideal co-op experience in SCHAR: Blue Shield Alliance with his longtime friend. Nick and lead programmer Dave Paul have been creating hobbyist games for 20 years together and only now feeling the world is ready for a Paul and Puleo creation.

“Dave and I have been creating games since we were in middle school, but they were always just for ourselves,” said Nick, “we felt it was time to be a little more serious and create something that other people could enjoy playing as much as we enjoy making it.”

SCHAR: Blue Shield Alliance will be playable in an intimate setting during PAX East in Boston, MA. More details about the game and its development are available on the official Blue Shield Alliance website – www.blueshieldalliance.com.